Alley's End (4th & EK Gaylord)

[DenverPoke]

The market is very skewed towards high-end 'for purchase' units right now. Millennials getting into the swing of their careers and paying off student loan debts are the same ones spending the most money downtown. They would love to live downtown and buy. But it isn't feasible when everything down there is $300-500K. So renting for $1200 a month instead is much easier. Then once these young adults can finally afford a house with saving, they opt for the $150K bang-for-buck suburban homes in N OKC and south Edmond. What we need is this same price point on the downtown scale. So we are talking units that are like 6-800 sq feet. Minimalism is easy to sell to this age group.

The Civic is the first thing downtown for sale that isn't out-of-reach for that generation. Unfortunately, it is in a not-so-desirable part of downtown at this time. If OKC can get some multi-family row homes and highrises in and around Bricktown and Deep Deuce that can score this price point of $150-200K units, you will see them scooped up left and right.

Good points but you will be hard pressed to find an urban developer who will build a $150-200k product when the cost to produce a product in the $350-400k range is probably less than an additional $50k and will sell nearly as quickly. There is always a "sweet spot" for an area and while a few may try to test the upper limits, virtually nobody dangles near the floor.

[Pete]

WDG of Dallas is the architect and they've recently done a 17-story residential building in Dallas that looks to be pretty similar:

[shawnw]

I'd live there

[wsucougz]

WDG of Dallas is the architect and they've recently done a 17-story residential building in Dallas that looks to be pretty similar:

1997 called...

[HangryHippo]

1997 called...

LOL so true.

[traxx]

1997 called...

What am I missing here?

[baralheia]

I'm guessing some feel like the architectural style is reminiscent of buildings built in the late 90's? *shrugs* If it looks anything like the pictures in Pete's post of that building in Dallas, I'd still call that a win. It doesn't have to look ultramodern to be a very positive benefit for the area, if built like the proposed plan - and that building in Dallas is far from ugly.

[catch22]

1997 called...

What? That building looks very good. Doesn't look outdated in the least. I think that same style would actually work well on that lot because it has some similar colors of Deep Deuce Brownstones, the brick pulls in some Bricktown, the altitude of the CBD, and the glass areas tie in well to the new Sandridge building and Braniff building. I think that same building would be a perfect tie in between those 3 districts.

[PhiAlpha]

What? That building looks very good. Doesn't look outdated in the least. I think that same style would actually work well on that lot because it has some similar colors of Deep Deuce Brownstones, the brick pulls in some Bricktown, the altitude of the CBD, and the glass areas tie in well to the new Sandridge building and Braniff building. I think that same building would be a perfect tie in between those 3 districts.

Yeah I'm confused too. There are apartment/condo buildings that look similar to this going up in Dallas, Denver, Austin, Nashville, etc. Not sure how these look dated? As long as the retail being proposed on the ground level is included, I'd say this is definitely a win.

[OKCRT]

1997 called...

That building looks pretty modern to me although I liked the Clayco building better.

[wsucougz]

I don't love the colors, but on second glance it isn't too bad.

[Laramie]

Definitions for a mid-rise vary, but are generally no less than six stories and no more than 18 stories high.

Taken from a previous Oklahoman article by Steve Lackmeyer--Published: April 23, 2016 12:00 AM CDT.

Now we've got something to work with as plans move forward on this development.

[KayneMo]

What's the status of this project?

[shadfar]

i hope this is still a go. pretty excited about this project!

[Pete]

Still in the works, but don't expect anything to happen here soon.

I'm sure they will be asking for a bunch of TIF money.

[Spartan]

WDG of Dallas is the architect and they've recently done a 17-story residential building in Dallas that looks to be pretty similar:

This is a very unique site for OKC, as the place where North Broadway comes into the downtown core. I have always dreamed about what this site could be, so I hope the development that happens isn't just any project from any street corner in Uptown Dallas, like the above.

What's a nice project for Dallas or Charlotte isn't necessarily a nice project for every site in OKC... just food for thought for everyone who's defending what we've seen so far. Nobody is saying it isn't nice... it just isn't "right."

The Chamber Forum thing wasn't right, either. Hence why the forces that be didn't bring it to fruition.

This project needs to interact first and foremost with the beautiful OPUBCO Bldg, secondly with the beautiful AT&T Bldg, and thirdly with the current dead zone along EK Gaylord.

It seems like everything including small projects from LEVEL to Journal Record are getting significant amounts of TIF dollars. It stands to reason that bolder investments deserve more TIF than a simple LEVEL or LIFT (multi-family money machines) is getting. However, in exchange for all of this public subsidy, the design had better incorporate public input.

[Plutonic Panda]

http://skyrisecities.com/news/2016/1...-oklahoma-city

[Spartan]

That's shockingly inaccurate. I guess it is the first NC deal in the narrowly defined 6-block CBD core, but several adaptive reuse deals have added the residential density that that guy claims this deal is the first in 50 years. City Place and the Carnegie off the top of my head...

[traxx]

Like that something is getting built here. Long overdue. Still hate the name. Why can't these projects come up with something half way original? Not a name borrowed from some other big city and not a name that has Oklahoma in it.

[Pete]

They have already said they are not planning to keep the Times Square name.

[HangryHippo]

After looking at the rendering again, I think I'd like it more if the orientation of the building was different - perhaps if it curved more with EK Gaylord. It sort of looks like it sits weirdly on that lot with too much wasted space.

WDG Architecture has another project on their board called Clarendon West that has the kind of curve I'm thinking of.

[traxx]

They have already said they are not planning to keep the Times Square name.

I guess their going by the fact that The Oklahoman and Times used to be in the building there at 4th. That seems to be a tenuous connection just so they can name it Times Square. The Oklahoman is the more well known newspaper here and The Times hasn't been published in over 30 years.

[edcrunk]

That's shockingly inaccurate. I guess it is the first NC deal in the narrowly defined 6-block CBD core, but several adaptive reuse deals have added the residential density that that guy claims this deal is the first in 50 years. City Place and the Carnegie off the top of my head...

City Place and Carnegie were remodels of existing buildings and were both built long ago... So I believe it is accurate.

[G.Walker]

Any updates on this project? Haven't heard anything in while, like a year & a half.

[Pete]

Nothing is going to happen here anytime soon.